Thanks for the info, I will keep an eye on the ph of the water...I was hoping because they are old weathered blocks, that they would be okay. I also put in those big pcs of porceline as more weight. These top baskets are 2ftsq, so am still debating using these bigger rubber tubs(I think they are farm feed bins)and just fill them up with all the water lilies I have. I didn't think I could get away with that many fertilizer spikes!!! Last year I used maybe(can't remember) 5 in each and had a lovely display! I also have this HUGE tub, like 2 ft around! Was considering using it, but not sure if I could haul it back out again when I need to. Plus it is a very bright green...hmmm. Here is a pic from last year, showing how the pond is right off the deck.

Hi pclausen! No offense, but what were you going to do if we said "AHHHH! It's too late!!!" You'ld do exactly what you're doing, fix the problems as quickly as you can with minimal stress to the fish and plants. You can't control the weather, so ease up on yourself. Ponding in my book is pretty forgiving (at least in my garden). If those fish have lived in a mess for a year they'll probably be okay in the tank as long as they have air, food, and ocassional water changes. The plants will survive, keep them wet. You can put several pots in a garbage bag and fill it with several inches of water. If you're worried, buy a kiddie pool, or better yet borrow one from a friend (it's too early for the kiddie's anyway) and chuck all the plants in there.

I've never been able to overwinter fish in my pond. Its only 4'deep in the deep end and our winters here last from Oct to May. The snow went the last week of April and we've had nice weather since then but it usually snows here the May long weekend. I started the pumps up and didn't have the gasket on the priming pot on the one pump and hadn't closed the priming pot drain all the way so had to redo that pump. I could get away with just one pump but I like more flow on the waterfall but the discharge valve is throttled back at least 40% on both pumps. Maybe I'll change it out next year but for now it seems to work fine and my electricity bill isn't any higher than winter. My waterlilies all survived and are leafing out nicely. The tuber on some of them is sticking up out of the dirt but is sending up new growth so I just left it. I usually buy parrots feather at the end of May--havn't had much luck with hyacinth our last few springs have been all over the board for temperatures. So I'm going to add some koi clay and let it do it's thing. Hope you get yours going. All that bending over is hard on the joints!

Hi buyorsell, My first sleep study 12 years ago was "normal"........but I had only slept a little over 1 hour, so how the heck could they know?? My internist a couple years ago really felt that alot of my fibromyalgia symptoms might be sleep apnea, so he sent me to a different sleep lab, and it show mild-mod apnea (30/hr), and I have been using CPAP since. It hasn't cured some of my symptoms, but I have more energy than I've had for 15 years. You don't necessarily need a doctor's order these days for a machine, and you can get a used one. Check out cpaptalk.com. Lots of great info on there. Is it possible you need to try a different sleep lab with a different doctor? How many hours did you sleep during your test? We fibromyalgia people also have another kind of sleep disorder, besides the apnea, and as soon as we start to go into deeper sleep, our brain wakes us up. So we hardly ever get deep sleep. I'm not sure of your age, but I have seen so many women develop fibro during perimenopause, so I'm sure its related to our hormones too. Everything went to heck at that time for me. Plus, I got a bad virus, which seemed to make everything alot worse. My father had sleep apnea too. I think there is a genetic component to it. After my sleep study, I refused to go back for the titration study. My sleep deprivation was causing alot of of panic attacks, and I just couldn't go through another night like that. I found a sleep doc who was kind enough to let me try a machine, without the titration study. Perhaps your doc would let you try it, even though your study didn't look bad enough? Your insurance might not cover it though. The newer machines are computers, and they can see and print out what you're doing all night.........number of apneas, hypopneas, leakage, etc. Here's another possibility for you.........you can get/rent/borrow a recording oximeter for a few nights and that will show how many times you desaturate during the night. That would be an excellent way to tell if perhaps your sleep study didn't show the problem. Our local DME company (durable medical equipment)Lincare actually let me borrow an oximeter for free, at the beginning of all this, and it showed alot of desaturation. Then I went on to get the sleep study. No offense to your doctor, but I think trying CPAP would be one of the best things you could try for your fibro. Nothing can be good if you're not getting restorative sleep.